You're right, we should totally give it a 10 just because it's a Square-Enix game and therefore all Square-Enix games by definition should never get a score below a 10. Or, we should give it a 10 because the art style looks an awful lot like Kingdom Hearts even though you can say that for virtually every Square-Enix game that came out after Kingdom Hearts 2. Maybe we should just retcon all the past non-Square-Enix games' scores and lower them by a point just to make this 8.5 much more sightly.

OR...you can just look at the facts within the review regarding the game and get over the 8.5. Good lord.

I keep considering getting a PSP for games like the third birthday. They just don't make games like this on the DS. And I don't see that changing for the 3DS. Don't get me wrong I love the DS and all but I can't help but feel I'm missing out a bit by not getting the handheld. They just dropped down to $129 too...

Why did they make this game for the Psp??? What a waste, I totally would have gotten this game if it was for ps3. Hand held systems are only good for simple games that pass the time on road trips, but serious games need to be put on real consoles. This was an incredibly stupid decision by square enix

@stridefizzel not a stupid decision to put this on psp look at Monster Hunter and Pokemon.the psp sells very well in Japan and some of the biggest Titles are on hand helds. I dont see ya so many hate on the psp

Why did they make this game for the Psp??? What a waste, I totally would have gotten this game if it was for ps3. Hand held systems are only good for simple games that pass the time on road trips, but serious games need to be put on real consoles. This was an incredibly stupid decision by square enix.

I hate it when people are like "Why are they making good games for the PSP?!! This should be on X console! I peed my pants!" I mean seriously. Everyone complains there are no good games on PSP, but then again they are always complaining that all the good PSP games shouldn't be on PSP. YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS! This level of stupidity makes me sick.

My guess is that they made this game for the PSP because you have to spend a fortune to make a quality console shooter these days. This way they can get an enjoyable game out there without necessitating the sale of millions of units.

"My guess is that they made this game for the PSP because you have to spend a fortune to make a quality console shooter these days."

Well, this game is not exactly a "shooter" (action RPG is a better term, IMO) and in Japan PSP is VERY successful console (and the "second home" for RPG´s). So it´s only natural that they make more rpg´s for PSP.

People who say that "PSP sucks" etc rarely know much about the console and its games. "PSP has not been successful" is the biggest myth in gaming.

"As I mentioned earlier, if given the opportunity to create another game within this franchise, I would like to create what I call a "cinematic shooter RPG" on a home console of the highest quality possible. We’ve successfully revamped the series with this title [The 3rd Birthday], so I’m certain that we can have Aya Brea flourish in a subsequent game as the fans are garnering for."

Holy crap, The 3rd Birthday is actually good? I've never been so happy to see an 8.5 in my life. I was worried when I heard how awful the story is. Glad to know that the gameplay makes up for it. Day 1 for me.

Kind of odd how Parasite Eve 1 got 7.4 and Parasite Eve 2 got 6.9 despite both being really fantastic games. Now IGN has decided to like Parasite Eve, hmmm..??

I just downloaded P.E.1 on psn and can't wait for pe2 to be released. However, I'm worried that this series will now be exclusive to psp. that would suck. It already sucks that they have taken so long for a sequel...but double suck because it's for psp.

That said, the PSP is also admittedly an odd choice for a game like this; there's an ambitious shooter buried within The 3rd Birthday that doesn't play as well as it should with a single analogue stick.
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Really excited to see this game get some positive reviews. I may even go back through the old ones just to reacquaint myself with the storyline. Nice to see a PSP game come out and impress some people!

When the NGP comes out it will have 2 analog sticks, so no complaining then ps3 guys!(I have a ps3 too...)
Oh yeah, and it will probably be 360 vs NGP/PS3 in the future, since both the ps3 and ngp have better specs than the 360 lol.
Anyways, this game looks awesome! Can't wait to get it for the summer.